As Doom Approaches
by Douglas-362
Summary: Spin-off of Doom-Kindred by Absoltheharbinger, bringing 'loids into the Pokemon universe. Discontinued due to lack of updates, but will re-kindle if enough response received.
1. The Travel Guide

**A/N:** This is technically a spin-off of my brother's work, Doom-Kindred. Dug is a representation of me from that fanfiction. I will be referencing events from that story, you have been warned.

Chapter 1

Slateport City: gateway to the region of Hoenn. There are many things to see and do in Slateport. On the golden beach, there is the Sea Shore House, as well as an ice cream parlour which claims to sell the "finest ice cream in Hoenn ... using the freshest MooMoo Milk and best ingredients". Moving up from the beach there is the Slate Market, which sells, imports and exports goods for anyone; the Oceanic Museum; and the famous Saviour bar and restaurant...

Ruko Younger woke from her daydream. God, she sounded like a travel guide sometimes. She looked down into her nearly-cold cup of coffee. A brown-black reflection looked back at her: she had shoulder-length black hair - some of which was tied into two ponytails – with a single blue forelock, which she was proud of. Official she was a human chimera, which explained her heterochromia (one eye was red, the other blue). She very regularly used the condition as a major factor (and/or excuse) contributing to her unnatural height: she was 19, and about 6' 5", meaning she dwarfed most people.

She wore a flowing black coat, dark blue shirt, black trousers and a tie the same tone as her forelock. Because of height and refusal to buy new clothes unless absolutely necessary, most of her clothes were several sizes too small. These unfortunately made her underwear show a bit, which was white today. The only item she wore today that was the right size was the single white glove on her right hand.

Ruko sighed, and looked out to sea, or at least, tried: whilst in her daydream, a girl had sat and lay down at the table between Ruko and the sea. Ruko recognised the newcomer instantly: Teto Kasane. Surprising as it seemed to other people, they were quite good friends, knowing each other since Teto had started at Rustboro Pokémon School. Teto was about 5'3", had crimson-fuchsia hair which was curled into a pair of drill-like ponytails (though they seemed to be sagging at the moment), and her eyes matched the colour of her hair. She wore what looked somewhere between a school and nurse's uniform: she was doing an apprenticeship with the Slateport Pokécentre, after all. But above all else, she a grade-A ditz. Yet Ruko still liked her.

"Hey, Teto."

"Hmm?"

Teto got her head out of her arms and looked at Ruko. Unsurprisingly, she had a bread roll sticking out of her mouth. "Oh, hi Ruko," she said through the roll. Teto was normally a bright, cheery girl, an optimist. For some reason, this attitude was significantly dulled. Something had upset the younger girl.

"What's wrong? You don't seem to be yourself," Ruko asked, genuinely worried for Teto.

Teto sighed, got up and moved to sit at Ruko's table, facing her friend. Before talking, she removed the roll from her mouth, taking a bite as she did so. "Oh, it's the apprenticeship. There's an increasingly strong chance I could get kicked off if I keep acting as I am.  
>"But I can't change who I am, I mean, I've tried, <em>you've<em> tried to help me," Ruko nodded, Teto took another small bite from her roll, "But I keep falling back into my normal, silly, ditzy self."

"You're not _that_ silly," Ruko offered, encouragingly.

Teto shook her head and sighed again. "Last week, I got the trays wrong again. That's only just been settled. I try, but it's not looking good for me."

It was Ruko's turn to sigh. She knew pretty much all there was to know about Teto: She'd started the apprenticeship nearly nine months ago, and it was meant to last twelve. It was a new placement, set up in the attempt to support the Joy family who ran most of the Pokécentres in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Ruko believed Sinnoh and Unova regions too. At least, that was the impression that her closest friend put across the last time they met and had a good chat.

"Hey, I've had an idea: finished that roll, and let's go see if we can't brighten that mood, huh?"

The coffee sat on the table, long abandoned.

**A/N:** I know that there no actual pokémon yet, and it's just Utauloids in Slateport, but I will be expanding to Vocaloids, and there will be more locations. Stay tuned!


	2. Surprise

**A/N:** Sorry it's taken so long. Anyway, here's chapter two. Dug makes his first appearance in this Chapter. I don't own Pokémon, Vocaloid, Doom-Kindred or Dug (though I did have a big hand in the creation and development of those last two).

As clarification so I don't get fact correction with every chapter's reviews, if something doesn't follow the official facts (eg Ruko's age and gender), assume I'm taking artistic license. If something seems really out of place, let me know.

Chapter 2

There appeared to be a school of Wailmer floating just off from the lighthouse, which was irregular for Slateport, so Teto and Ruko decided to go look at them after a quick visit to Kaito's Ice Cream Parlour (_I really ought to speak to him at some point,_ thought Ruko – they were friends, and hadn't actually spoken to him beyond buying ice creams in a while). Leaning on the railings, Ruko was watching the Wailmer, listening to the sea, when there was a sound... small, out of place, familiar-

Ruko jumped to the side, almost bumping into Teto, just as someone landed on the railing where she had been. The stranger leapt lightly to the ground.

"I have to admit, you're getting better, Ruko," commented the newcomer. Teto had been transfixed by the Wailmer, watching a small blond-haired girl leap between the great Pokémon. When the newcomer spoke, Teto jumped and turned to see the stranger, almost losing her ice cream. "What gave me away this time?" asked Ruko.

Ruko smiled. "Hey Mako. It was your jump. The ocean _nearly_ drowned it out. I think it was just luck this time though."

"Maybe next time I'll get you."

Teto was confused. This person appeared from nowhere, and seemed to know Ruko very well. All her questions came out at once: "Who are you? Where'd you come from? How do you know her? What's with those _clothes_?"

Ruko giggled. Mako joined in. Mako Nagone was a friend that met some months ago on a trek round Hoenn. She was into ninjitsu, not so much for the whole assassin thing, but for the skills and lifestyle. As such, she wore loose short trousers, a plain shirt, a short scarf and her arms were bandaged. Her feet were also partially bandaged, but otherwise bare. All of this was in treetop camouflage colours, and just mentally screamed ninja. Her hair was a dark green, almost black, and tied into a long ponytail. She was a little older than Ruko, at 21, but about Teto's height. Ruko decided to answer Teto. "Mako, this is Teto Kasane, an old school friend. Teto, this is Mako Nagone, we met a while back on Route... 119, wasn't it? Anyway, she's honing her ninja skills, and thought she'd _literally_ drop in and say hi," Teto caught the hint, and looked at the top of the lighthouse, then back at Ruko with a look of escalated confusion with a hint of doubt. "As for the clothes, she's wearing those much like the reason why you're wearing that rather than the full nurse's uniform: lack of necessity, with just a dash of rebellion."

It took Teto a few moments to respond. In that time her face showed a slideshow of expression as she tried to make the most of what she'd been told. This made Mako giggled more.

"She climbed up there?"

"Yes."

"And jumped down?"

"Yes."

"And tried to kill you?"

"No."

"_Land_ on you?"

"Not quite, but closer. Just accept it and move on."

Mako decided it was her turn to speak. "So what're you two doing?"

"Teto's down in the dumps because she's possibly going to lose her apprenticeship, I'm trying her feel bet-"

Ruko was cut off by a ringing coming from Teto's bag. She fished out her PokéNav and flipped it open. "Gumi," she told Ruko. "Hi, Gumi! What? ... Okay, well I'm in Slateport, I'll grab my bike and head over to Verdanturf, okay? Right, I'll see you in ten." She snapped the PokéNav shut. Teto sighed and looked at Ruko. "Gumi wants to make some more Pokéblocks, and then she's taking part in a contest. She wants me to watch."

Ruko smiled. Gumi was a sweet girl, but Ruko never really saw much of her, as Gumi was constantly on the move, more so than Ruko. "Well, that ought to cheer you up. Be careful, and give her luck from me!" Ruko had to call the last bit, as Teto was already moving away to get her bike.

"Will do! Bye!" Teto called back, and started running.

"Nice girl," noted Mako.

"Yeah, less ditzy today though," added Ruko, it wasn't clear whether or not this was a bad thing. She went back to leaning on the railings, Mako joining soon after. "So how've you been since the last time you tried to plough me into the dirt?" asked Ruko. Both laughed at this.

"Eh, same old. Ninjask's _finally_ worked out how to quieten down and fit into my idea of 'stealthy', but Scyther's getting reckless, I think. I was pondering visiting Unova, see what's out there. How've you been?"

Ruko sighed. "I guess I've been toning down. Training doesn't seem like my kind of thing, to be honest. I like being with Pokémon, but the training's starting to get redundant. I'm probably too used to Hoenn. Oh man, I seriously need a change. And maybe another coffee," this encouraged another set of smiles, "I've heard Unova's nice, and it's where my Sawsbuck came from."

"You haven't been there?"

Ruko shook her head and looked toward the horizon. "Nah, last time I had the opportunity to go with that friend of mine, I was busy helping the police. It took much longer than anyone expected."

"Y'know, there's always plenty of opportunity with me."

The new voice came from nowhere. Ruko grinned as a figure faded from 'nowhere' on the other side of Mako. Mako nearly had a heart attack.

"For heaven's sake Dug, how do you do that?" Mako nearly screamed, making Ruko laugh.

"I believe it's known in these parts as 'Parkinson Technologies'."

"Not the camo, how do you get around so _quietly_?"

Dug pondered a moment. "Sneaking," Mako groaned, "I'm surprised, Mako: there I was thinking _you_ were ninja here." Ruko's laughter was renewed, and joined by Dug.

Ruko took a good look at Dug: this was the friend she had been talking about: Dug was about Ruko's age, and a couple of inches shorter. He was a tech geek, a skilled guitarist (one of the members of his family band Titanicus), and brilliant in practically every sense of the word. He was as thin as a pencil, though this was sort of hidden by his greatcoat. The coat was custom made between him and his brother; this new version featured a semi-hood that worked with a matching Trilby hat to increase coverage for its amazing camouflage ability. This ability matched the surroundings 99.99% perfectly, the last imperfection is an unavoidable (though barely noticeable with sharp vision) blurred edge. Dug loved using this sneak into situations such as this.

The set could also be programmed to take any appearance Dug wished, such as now it had it set to a rich blue tone with a red pattern inspired by computer circuitry and markings of the Sea Basin Pokémon Kyogre among the many lines.

He'd hardly changed one bit.

"Okay, you got me. What do you want?" The joke seemed to fading quickly on Mako.

"Well, I was gonna take Ruko and hang out with her, and see where we go. Unova, most likely. If you want me to be more specific than _that_, I also want to kick Team Galactic's collective ass, and still be home in time to perfect some other gadget or gizmo."

That was true: Team Galactic seemed to be on their way back up and 'with an all-new kicking action feature' – they'd developed a grudge against his brother, who was currently in a coma, with his beloved Absol looking after him. The grudge had extended to Dug, and both had already had had attempts on their existence. Henry was lucky to be how he was: if Dug hadn't shown up, things would have been a lot worse.

Getting back to the there and then, she asked Dug "So when were you gonna go to Unova next?"

Dug had started leaning on the railings, matching Mako perfectly. He loved teasing her. "Well, I got back two days ago, I thought I'd grab you and head over to Sinnoh, sort a few things and move on to Unova. So, maybe... tomorrow afternoon. Interested?"

"Sounds good. What'll we do till then?"

Mako stood up, stretched, and said "Well, I've got training to catch up on, so I'll catch you later Ruko." She appeared to make a point of ignoring Dug.

"Ok, see you later then," Ruko replied. As Mako was walking / jogging away she added "Oh, if you're going by the Market, say hi to Len for me, yeah?" Mako waved back to make it clear she'd heard.

With Mako gone, Dug looked at Ruko. "So, plenty of time to kill in creative and interesting ways. What say we go over to Mauville, hang there, and then come back for a drink or two?"

Ruko smiled. "So long as it's not too many. Let's go!"

**A/N:** And that's it. Chapter 3 should be up in the next couple of days hopefully.

Thanks again to tuwas1 for this story's first review, you gave me the motivation I needed to get back into writing this.


	3. Black Money and Revelations

**A/N:** As promised, here's Chapter 3. It's abit slow, but I hope it'll give some depth to Dug's character for those who can't or won't read Doom-Kindred. I don't even know if it's up here. Again, I do not own Pokémon, Vocaloid, UTAU, Doom-Kindred or Dug (I did have a hand in the last two though).

Chapter 3

After spending more money than Ruko had expected – most coming from Dug, but he always had more than enough anyway – the pair returned to Slateport just as the sun was setting, giving the sky and sea a beautiful orange tint. After some time looking at the views, they agreed to get a drink and something to eat at the Saviour. Dug knew a thing or two about the place, largely from Henry, who came here on a regular basis for business (some of which could be seen as a little shady).

Whenever he wasn't in a coma, at least.

Sitting at the bar, Ruko asked Dug: "Why _do_ you willingly spend so much on me?"

Dug put his drink down and looked at her. "You do know I have more friends than just you, right? And that I have a proper girlfriend now?"

"I knew about the others, or at least guessed. That's what you're like. But you're kinda beating around the Berry bush."

"Just checking. I have a lot of money coming in from my various businesses and other stuff. And I mean a _lot_. Most goes among you lot as fairly as I can manage. It isn't gonna go anywhere else otherwise, so I might as well use it: Developing this, that or another; spending it on the special girls in my life..."

"You make it sound like you're running a harem," noted Ruko.

"Don't try to," Dug replied. Both chuckled at this. At this point, the landlady, Haku, slid over and joined them.

"I see your sphere's grown again?" Haku asked. She had a friendly voice, the sort which you know means you can trust the owner in a heartbeat.

"Hi, Haku. You seem to be making use of that conveyor then?"

"Couldn't be more helpful for someone like me." She smiled.

"Yeah, I'm that sorta guy. Well, Ruko's been with me for a while, but I've been over to beautiful Unova for the last couple of weeks. You can do the maths."

"I suppose. We can't really describe it, but us girls just seem to... like you." Haku looked over at Ruko, who nodded in agreement whilst finishing her glass. She looked back at Dug. "Oh, the Star-Guys were asking around for you the other day. I told them I hadn't seen you in two months, and no-one I've spoken to has heard from you in that time."

"Which is true, _officially_," Dug replied with one of his prized smiles, slipping Haku a P5000 note across the counter. Haku smiled, slipping the note out of sight and touch. "Two more of the same, please," Dug gave her the money for the drinks. Using the conveyor, she slid away to get the fresh drinks.

Ruko looked like she was caught in the middle of a conversation in some unknown language. "Sorry: Star-Guys? Officially? What're you talking about?"

"Not here, not now. I'll explain later," Dug said. It was clear with how he'd said it made it very clear that he would go no further on the subject.

Ruko had accepted a long time ago that Dug liked hanging out with all kinds of other people, particularly girls. That was his way of life. His last action towards Haku didn't fit into any of her working. "What was with that money? Are you bribing her?"

Dug sighed. He gave in. "More of a tip, but yes. She's someone I treat like Stardust because she's someone I know will keep my back clear of unwanted company. I believe she's one of those rare people with more applicable power than any mayor."

"I can see why," Ruko commented, nodding in Haku's direction, indicating her 'Natural Beauty'. Dug chuckled at this.

"You don't realise just how much of an asset that can be."

Ruko was left puzzling this over as Haku slid back with the second round. Ruko took a moment to look the girl over. She was a little taller than Teto, but it was hard to tell how old she was. Late 20s was Ruko's best guess. Her hair was white, tied into a long ponytail, like Mako's (long ponytails seem to be very popular at the moment, mused Ruko) that brushed against her heels at the tip. She wore a grey button-up shirt, navy blue tie, dark boot-cut jeans and black trainers. Her eyes were a red several tones darker than Ruko's one. Both her cleavage areas were large at a distance, larger than Ruko's, and seemed to only get larger as Haku got closer.

Dug thanked her for the drinks. As she started to leave to serve some other patron, Dug added "Oh, I nearly forgot: If you hear about an Exterminator, or someone who's lost a Toxicroak, let us know, will you? I think Henry still has the remnants of a grudge to settle."

"Will do."

Ruko took her drink and turned to lean against the bar, looking at the Lampent swinging from the ceiling. "There seems to be many more levels to you than I thought." Dug looked at her. She tilted her head to look sideways at him. "I like that. So long as you don't turn out to be some monster or epic hero or something." She chuckled and turned back to looking at the Lampent, who had started humming softly.

It was a couple of hours later that they finally said goodbye to Haku and headed for Ruko's house. Both had had a few drinks and, although not yet properly drunk, they were starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. When they got back, Dug explained what he'd meant earlier: "Star-Guys" was the pseudonym he used to refer to Team Galactic, who Dug was fairly certain were tailing him, trying to find a way of bringing him down, following what he'd helped Henry do to them a few months ago. The "official" story, which he'd tipped key people such as Haku, was that no-one had heard from him in a while, as he was in "other parts" and couldn't find the time to contact them, which was partly true due to how much of his time he'd spent in Unova recently. In actual fact everyone he gave this cover story to were actually in very close contact with him most of the time.

Anything beyond this, Ruko wouldn't remember. Damn alcohol.

**A/N:** And that's Chapter 3. I'll try to get 4 up asap, though I don't know about anything beyond there - I've hand-written the story up to chapter 4, and typed that up for here, but I only have a basic idea of what I'm doing beyond there. I'll try though.


	4. Morning Sleepy

**A/N:** OK, here's chapter 4. turns out there was less that I needed to add than I thought. See earlier chapters for the disclaimer.

Chapter 4

Ruko woke up, blinking several times as expected sunlight streaming in from the window invaded her vision. After the sunlight, Ruko noticed two other things: one, she was on one side of her bed, rather than the middle; two, she was fairly sure she could a feel a small hangover poking at her brain.

Brushing the blue forelock out of her eyes, she got out of bed and stretched. She thought of cats for no reason currently explicable. Looking at her bed, it was cleared she'd shared with someone, but who and why? There was a spare room for whenever she had guests, which was rather regularly.

Ruko stood trying to remember the answers, which, in a tired, hung-over brain was quite a challenge. She recalled meeting Dug, spending time with him and going to the Saviour. They'd been chatting, and she met Haku. Everything was blurry from there onwards...

_Hang on – I _slept_ with Dug?_

The realisation was like a mental slap, but without the wake-up. The hangover hurt a little more instead. That was something she _might_ need to keep quiet. If certain people (such as Touko) heard about it, she'd never hear the end of it and possibly die of shame or embarrassment depending on the person.

There were worse people to sleep with, she supposed. Much worse.

Dug poked his head around the doorway. He smiled when he saw her awake.

"Morning, sleepy. Get dressed and get over to the kitchen: I'm cooking something that I _know_ kills hangovers of all shapes and sizes."

"How're you here... and cooking... at the same time?" Ruko mumbled, yawning and rubbing her lower back. The realisation's impact seemed to have faded away.

"Blaziken's in charge of overseeing the cooking for now, better at it than Porygon – Boy, I do _not_ want to trust it with something like that, especially here..." Dug seemed to be fading into his own little thought bubble. Realising this, he slipped back towards the kitchen, humming some familiar song.

Ruko made a move to get fresh clothes (something that actually fit would be a bonus) when she spotted her reflection in a mirror leaning against the wall. Her hair was a crazed mess in places. _That will need washing_, she noted. Breakfast first though. She made another move for clothes, but ground to another halt. This time, by a single thought: _wait, who _is_ Touko?_

Ruko guessed it was a name she remembered from the night before, and little else. Brushing that aside too, she finally found some clothes. Pretty much the same yesterday's, except the shirt fit better (especially around her bust – there was the bonus), and her underwear was black. More appropriately dressed, she dragged herself towards the kitchen, following the smells and sounds emanating from Dug and his cooking. The first thing Ruko noticed was Dug's Gardevoir – an elegant, humanoid Pokémon that had green hair, white skin, red eyes, a red horn sticking out of its chest and appeared to be wearing a long green and white dress – sitting at the small, round table staring fixedly and focusing deeply on the task before her: solving a suspended Rubik's Cube. The cube clicked a couple of times each second. That Gardevoir and Dug had a very strong companionship, Ruko noted, probably the strongest of any between him and any of his team. Ruko thought the psychic Pokémon also help the shared position of best inter-Pokémon with Gothitelle, another psychic type, but Gothitelle had a more gothic Lolita look to her – a layered black dress, in particular. Ruko was brought back to the present by a sudden whoosh and jet from flame coming from the direction of the hob. Ruko appeared to be the only occupant of the room to be fazed by the event: Gardevoir was still staring at the cube, which continued to click away, and Blaziken was flapping his hand to rid it of any excess fire, and Dug said "Thank you. And I'd say that's done! Lovely!" He had a great amount of cheer in his voice.

"I take it you haven't made a mess, have you?" Ruko asked as she took her place at the table. She was still a little groggy.

Dug took a moment to look at her, and smiled. "Nothing Altaria won't be willing to clear up while you're making yourself presentable. He love cleaning," Dug replied, shovelling food onto a pair of plates. There was a crash from the direction of the front door, which made Ruko jump. Dug sighed and yelled down the hall "Porygon! I said _mail_, not picture rail! Sort that out and bring us the _mail_!" Ruko looked at him, a very confused look on her face. Dug spotted this, and explained: "I told it to see if there's anything in the mail. He must've gotten confused and thought I said something seeing if there was anything on the picture rail and bring it here," There was another crash. "I'll cover the damage," He added quickly.

After a few moment silence (broken only by the clicking of the Rubik's Cube), the Gardevoir slammed her fists on the table in frustration, shaking the two cups of coffee Dug had put there earlier. She groaned and proceeded to glare at the sill-floating Rubik's Cube. Apparently she was going in circles. Dug noticed this, and plucked the cube from the air. He took a moment to analyse it, made a few twists, and returned it to its original floating position. Gardevoir looked at it, not expecting anything amazing, but then suddenly perked back up, eyes wide with surprise and sudden realisation. She continued solving the cube at a noticeably faster rate.

Dug returned to the table quickly, wielding two plates loaded with breakfast, one he passed to Ruko. They were mountainous. She wouldn't have been surprised if he could figure out how to get more onto the plates. The sight alone was enough to start offsetting the hangover (which had started creeping back up). "It's a little something I picked up at the Deino Cafe in Striaton. You'll love it!" Dug said. That winning smile returned. He could almost be a respected politician with that smile, Ruko mused. If he wanted to.

Ruko was about to take of sausage when an angular pink and blue Pokémon whizzed past (with an audible whizz), chirping and dropping a group of letters next to Ruko's plate, a couple spilled onto the floor due to the lack of space. As it flew around the table, it clipped the Rubik's Cube, sending it spinning about its centre of mass. This confused Gardevoir for a moment. Once the cube had slowed down enough, she continued as normal. Ruko looked at the Pokémon now 'perching' on Dug's shoulder.

"So that's a Porygon... the Pokémon that's brought disorder to my house."

"Just a few cyberspace-to-realspace glitches. Porygon don't actually have a physical form, but I have certain items that allowed the contrary to happen. I _really_ need to fix its attitude. Compared to what happened two months ago, this is nothing."

"And what was that? Really."

Dug sighed. "Oh boy. He single-handedly trashed Henry's kitchen. Twice."

"OK, I see what you mean."

When they'd finished the enormous breakfast (Ruko's hangover was long gone, but the memories were still missing), Dug opted to do washing – and cleaning – up while Ruko had a quick spar with Sawk and do something about her hair. Ruko regularly sparred with Sawk as physical and mental training, keeping her instincts and reaction times to a good level. She'd had to fight off some thugs a year ago, but at that point she had a Hariyama. She had Sawk now as it fit her style better. The hangover had put a dent in her reactions, but after about quarter of an hour later she back on form.

With sparring done, Ruko took a quick shower, mostly to sort her messy hair. While this was drying, she flipped through the post: Bills, junk, postcard, mystery letter, junk, junk, leaflet, free newspaper. The junk and leaflet went straight in the bin, the mystery letter turned out to be a instructions and a ticket to an upcoming film from (Ruko guessed) her friend who went by the nick-name FL_Chan. Ruko always found it hard remembering her real name. The postcard was from Miku, who was staying in Undella Bay, Unova ("You wanna visit her while we're there?" asked Dug while helping Altaria finish the cleaning), and the free paper, the Hoenn Times, Ruko decided to keep for later. Whilst sorting the mail, Gardevoir finished the Rubik's Cube.

Before much longer, the house was back to its original condition, Ruko had left a note in the window saying she was in Unova, and to leave packages with the couple who lived next door, and the pair got ready to head for the port.

**A/N:** And that's it. The next chapter'll be voyage, maybe first half if not all of it. I'm looking at around 1.5k words per chapter at the moment, so we'll see how far that goes. I have plans for a lot of other characters, I'll be adding them in ASAP - It's not all gonna be Ruko and Dug, might follow another few characters for a while.


	5. Shipping

**A/N:** Hello! Sorry for the delay. I'd got the first half of this chapter sorted easily (still unsure about the opening though), but the later part proved hard. I decided to leave it where it is despite writing more, as it cut off the chapter rather nicely. See earlier chapters for the Disclaimer.

Chapter 5

The shipping routes between Hoenn and Sinnoh had been firmly established for a very long time (many of the elderly folk enjoyed recalling of the man who sailed out to desperately find new places to sell his merchandise – this sparked the inspiration of larger companies to follow suit and form the trading routes), though they had changed recently due to recent discovery and inclusion of the Unova region. The first month or so saw the port crowded with trainers moving in groups akin to pilgrimages to explore this new region. A couple of months down the line and the port was still busier than the previous average by a long way.

Dug had contacts and influences everywhere, so had little difficulty securing VIP status to ease their way through the check-in process. Ruko had wanted to complain, but couldn't see anything substantial to complain about, so kept quiet. Besides, Dug had said that "we don't really need it – just a waste of time". Other than supplies and Ruko's _Hoenn__Times_, they didn't have anything suspicious – the worst they could do was thwack someone over the head with paper (Ruko actually did this following one of Dug's comments on the way there). Well, some _could_ argue about Dug having the deity of the sea and something that could practically walk into high-security systems without any suspicion, but they were his friends and team. And Dug wasn't the kind to just abuse what he liked with said resources – that was what people like Team Rocket or Galactic did. On a regular basis.

Gardevoir was out of her ball, floating between Dug and Ruko. Due to number of bodies nearby, there was a lot of psychic feedback. This gave her a slightly dulled expression and her drifting a slight jerkiness. Despite this, Gardevoir looked just as excited as Ruko, though for a different reason: unlike Ruko, the Pokémon had already visited Unova – she just loved boats, apparently.

Nearly an hour after arriving at the port, the boat was ready to set sail. The trio went to stand at the rail surrounding the observation deck. Some passengers had already let some of their Pokémon out to fly around. They also noticed a crowd had come to see the boat off, some faces Ruko recognised: Len was near the middle front, trying not to be embarrassed by his loud twin sister Rin; Kaito was over there; Momo could be seen near back being supported by her Machoke, probably ready to make a runner back to whatever house she was cleaning if someone spotted her; Luka was easy to spot, and Ruko thought she'd spotted Miku and Gakupo among the crowd. She'd then spotted something that made her stop dead: partially in view right at the back of the group was a white figure with dark skin. It looked vaguely humanoid (though it might have been partially standing on a railing, it wasn't very clear), though it didn't fit any single Pokémon she recognised. The boat started moving. Ruko noticed that whatever it was, it was looking directly at her and Dug, though she deeply suspected it was more looking at her. Whatever it was, it filled her with fear and darkness. The figure slowly disappeared from view at the boat gained speed and started moving away from Hoenn. Dug noticed Ruko's shocked and pale expression.

"You look like you've seen a Froslass," he commented.

"I feel like I have," Ruko replied. As the figure disappeared altogether, she started coming slowly back to her senses. The first thing she noticed was that light music had started playing, a similar to sort to that which played in the Oceanic Museum. "Hey, let's go get a drink or something."

Back in Slateport, the boat had finally vanished from view. Noroi sighed and shook her head. _Whoever __she __is_, she thought, _I__'__m __concerned __for __her __future_. Noroi really didn't need to be worrying about anything else right now – her plate was too full already. She jumped down and made her way back to the house to continue looking after her "patient" before the crowd started to break up – the vast majority of humans saw Absol as one of the worst omens you could get.

On the boat, sometime later, Gardevoir expressed concern to Dug about Ruko, who was still shaking and a little pale. Apparently she wasn't right to Gardevoir's psychic senses either, and it was more erratic than Gardevoir had ever seen.

"What did you see? I need to know," Dug asked after bringing her a second coffee.

"To be honest, I don't even know myself," she replied. Her voice was slightly shaky. "It was... a figure, mostly white, but there was what looked like dark skin. It wasn't human, but I couldn't match it to any Pokémon I've ever seen. I think there was a scythe-like horn sticking out of its head..."

Until that last fact had arisen, Dug was clearly trying to crack the puzzle in his head. That fact made something click. "Noroi?" he asked himself in a low voice. Gardevoir looked at him. "What's _she_ doing?"

"Say what?" Ruko asked. Dug withdrew from his thoughts and brightened back up.

"Oh, don't worry. If that was what I think it was, then it's nothing to worry about: my brother's Pokémon, very close to him. She's fine."

"But why did I feel an aura of dread when I saw... her?" The 'her' still didn't seem to sit right with Ruko.

"She's an Absol." Dug said as though it the simplest and most harmless thing in the whole world, though he did say it in a low voice so that only Ruko could hear. That tone could start all kinds of problems in this sort of environment. Ruko was shocked: the way he spoke of Absol was surprising, considering they were normally only ever seen before a major disaster. "Like I said, don't worry. She isn't like a normal one. We'll be fine."

A point on Dug's arm-mounted computer flashed a pink tone. Dug tapped it and a holographic plane rose out from the point. Ruko could see the "screen". There were characters, but she'd never seen them before, and it would be hard to decipher them anytime soon. Dug's face flashed an expression somewhere between concern and amusement. That was gone in a second, and Dug explained "I've got Porygon keeping a low profile in the ship's servers. From what I've gathered, there _might_ be a hint of -" A set of doors at the end of the deck burst open. Five figures marched in, each flanked by a large purple cat-like Pokémon. "...trouble," Dug finished.

**A/N:** And that's it. Have a guess at the trouble-makers lol.

Quick note/disclaimer: Noroi is Henry's Absol from Doom-Kindred. She _really_ isn't like normal Absol - you'll have to read it as soon as it's available to understand. **Absoltheharbinger** is my brother and the author of Doom-Kindred - he'll start uploading the chapters soon!

Stay tuned here and there!


	6. Thyme, Mint and Seven Sages

**A/N:** This is shorter than my other chapters, I guess it's more of a filler. It's explaining who the invaders are and what they want. That's all, pretty much. Oh, I've downgraded the story to T from M cos I was thinking recently: I'm not actually likely to have any M-rated material directly referenced. The worst I've had so far are Ruko's thought from a few chapters ago. The next chapter will involve a fight (finally!), but nothing too graphic. Anyway, enough of this, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 6

The group consisted of five people; four wore pseudo-Medieval tabards while the apparent leader wore a more elaborate purple and gold robe with matching purple hat. Each of them was shadowed by a large purple cat, though the leaders' looked significantly more superior to the others. The tabards were all emblazoned with what was presumably the team's emblem: a blue stylised "P" on a zigzag pattern, all on a black and white shield.

"If I may have your attention!" shouted the leader. The shout certainly caught the attention of everyone who hadn't noticed the doors being opened. "My name is Bronius. I am one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma. This ship has been taken hostage-"Bronius was interrupted by a couple across the room who clearly had a sense of humour, as they chimed "oh, yay!" in a particularly sarcastic tone. One of the grunts struggled to keep a straight face. He regained control when another of the grunts glared at him and jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. Bronius continued unfazed. "You _will_ co-operate, or you will be thrown overboard and not recovered."

An uproar was starting to brew like an angry sea. Someone else shouted from the bar "What is the 'Team Plasma'? And why do you want this ship?" Dug had to admit: this was the first time he'd heard of a team called Plasma, and their actions at this moment in time put him more in mind of Aqua's doings. While they were still around, at least.

Bronius smirked. "Team plasma is led by our king and leader, the great Ghetsis. Our goal is to alleviate the suffering of Pokémon, and grant them the liberation they so truly deserve. Being used by trainers oppresses them, and we wish to eradicate. As for this ship, we have given both you and the Sinnoh government a choice: Every passenger and crewman on board are to release every last Pokémon in their possession so they may live in true happiness, or an equivalent number are to be released from the United PC Storage System. Whoever answers first will have their choice honoured." A new buzz of chatter started building. "You have thirty minutes, and then we blow this ship up. There are no life-boats to escape in, and any who try to escape in another way _will_ be stopped." The buzz became a roar of anger.

"This seems bad," noted Ruko.

"Only 'seems'?" Dug commented. It wasn't clear if he agreed or was shocked at an understatement. A large man walked up to Bronius; presumably it was the person who demanded to know what Plasma's ideas were.

"I _refuse_ to release _any_ of my Pokémon," he spat, barely controlling a mighty fury. "Not for you, nor anyone else. You have no right to decide what others do with their Pokémon." The last bit was said through gritted teeth.

"Is that so?" chuckled Bronius, not in the slightest bit concerned about the larger man. With a snap of his fingers, one of the grunts threw a Great Ball and a large red Pokémon that appeared to be wearing martial arts uniform burst out. Ruko happened to know that it was called Throh, as it was in some way related to Sawk. She, like the majority of the room's occupants, was suddenly shocked as it grabbed the man by the legs and, ignorant of the man's complaints and cries of panic, swung him over its head several times before releasing him, causing the man to go flying over the railings and quite a way out into the sea. A woman who was presumably his wife screamed and ran for the railing, but was stopped and restrained by the Throh.

"Anyone else fancy a drink?" asked Bronius, a hint of amusement in his heavy voice.

"I'd rather like to voice my opinion, yeah," replied Ruko, getting up from the table. Dug hadn't expected this, and was immediately concerned for her. "How about a battle? Loser goes overboard. If it's you, you'll leave us be. But if it's me, I'll also release every one of my Pokémon. You can call the conditions for the battle." The risk did little to improve Dug's worry.

Bronius smiled, considering his opponent's request as he looked her over. "I accept. Three each, single battle. There's a battle pitch we can use on the top of this boat."

"Then let's go. I hope you're actually gonna be a challenge – I could do with a proper one." Bronius gave a deep, booming laugh.

**A/N:** ...And that's a wrap. The next chapter will focus on the battle, and may make for a longer chapter for all I know. I may slow this down (like that's difficult XD) and look into digitising a few other stories I have on the go (Evangelion-Vocaloid crossover, 40k, I think one other - I might even try Street Fighter of FMA if I feel like it!). I also have a chapter/bit advance written, where we meet FL-Chan (or FL_Chan as her acquired nickname - real name forgtotten - in my fic), and her unusual habits.

One last thing: At time of writing my brother has started uploading Doom-Kindred, so go look at that. It's a good fic that breaks away from the bright, kiddy feel of the games nicely. And seeing as this is partly a spin-off...

I should have the battle up soon, until then Douglas-362 out!


	7. Let The Battles Begin!

**A/N:** Hello again! so here is the first true battle of my fanfic. Thanks go to my brother for tips and help on... well, everything! Pokémon to use, moves for them... yeah. Anyway here it is, enjoy! Disclaimed, 'nuff said.

Chapter 7

Everyone who was still on the observation had already started moving to watch the approaching battle. Ruko sat and rummaged through her bag, deciding who she would call on to help save her from an unnecessary bath. She'd fished out two Pokéballs: one held Sawk in a Great Ball, the other held Sableye, a black, humanoid ghost-type with clawed hands and jewels in its eye sockets and back. It was while looking for a third Pokémon that a sickening realisation had struck her: she only had those two Pokémon. There was a solid rule that a Trainer could only ever have a maximum of 6 Pokémon on them at any one time, and she'd only taken two so that she could start getting to know any freshly-caught Pokémon immediately.

"I don't have three Pokémon!" she hissed to Dug, her voice laced with panic.

Dug acted cool, as usual. "Don't worry, use this." A Quick Ball was tossed under the table discreetly, landing in Ruko's open bag. Normally Ruko took some pride in being self-sufficient, but this was an emergency and, well, it _was_ Dug. Things could be a lot worse.

Ruko and Bronius looked at each other across the steel tread-plate arena. A gentle breeze pulled lightly at their hair and clothes.

Suddenly, with a flourish, Bronius produced and activated his first Pokéball. There was a flash of light as the ball opened. When this subsided, a deep red Pokémon stood in front of Bronius. Its body looked like a suit of armour covered with sharp, curved blades. It was a Bisharp: vicious, powerful.

Ruko smiled: she knew exactly what to do. She grabbed the Great Ball and tossed it a foot above her head, shouting "let's go, Sawk!" The blue karate master she'd sparred with earlier that day landed in front of her, taking a second to tighten his belt a little and evaluate his opponent. "Look," she said. Sawk listened but didn't turn round. "I think it's steel-type, so your Poison Jab isn't going to work. You know what to do though." Sawk grunted once, and shot forwards.

Bisharp took up a defensive stance against the charging Pokémon. Unfortunately, it had assumed Sawk would attack its head or upper body, and Sawk was too close and quick to allow Bisharp the time to react. The next thing it knew, its legs were swept out from underneath it as Sawk caught its opponent with a Low Sweep. There was a resounding crash as the heavier Pokémon hit the arena floor. The four blades in its chest and the one in its head cut clean through the metal floor with minimal resistance. In an attempt to get back on its feet it cut another hole with its arm. Metal screamed as though in torture as it was pulled up and out with the blades. Bisharp was barely on its feet when Sawk came in for a second go, but Bisharp was ready this time: it moved its arms so that the blades touched and started moving its arms, causing the blades to spark and squeal as they ran against each other. Sawk was ground to a halt as he clutched his head where his ears were in an attempt to keep out the sound, his own screams of agony lost under the sound of metal on metal. Before long Sawk collapsed onto one knee, clearly unable to take a lot more of the punishment. Seeing this as an opportunity to strike, Bisharp charged at Sawk, clearly preparing a Giga Impact, its fist glowing with energy. Sawk, apparently too distracted by the Metal Sound, was struck by a blow to the chest that was a thousand times its normal strength. He was knocked back, only just stopped by the low perimeter wall, but recovered quickly, staggering defiantly to his feet. A flash in his eye made it clear that he had been purely Biding his time. He sprinted towards Bisharp, who had become exhausted from using the Giga Impact and unable to defend itself. Even if Bisharp had been able to brace for the impact, it wouldn't have been able to last long against the blistering barrage of punches and kicks Sawk served up. Bisharp, who was now barely standing, was finished off with a Double Kick, first to the chest – finally buckling the armour – and then under the chin, snapping its head back and propelling the Bisharp six feet backwards. There was a clang as it hit the arena floor (back-first this time); it breathed a final ragged breath before falling unconscious. Bronius remained poker-faced as he switched out Bisharp for his Liepard. Ruko, Dug and many others in the crowd could already see the outcome of this paring: although Sawk had the type advantage, he was weakened and exhausted, and Liepard was at the very peak of its game. Sawk clearly didn't want to accept this as he took up a fighting stance against the now-circling cat. Without warning, its walking became running, and it used Double Team in an attempt to confuse Sawk. It worked, to an extent: he'd figured out which was the real one, but only just before it pounced, slashing wildly at Sawk. It was clear that that was the final blow Sawk could take, so withdrew him, whispering "thank you" as she did so. He wasn't knocked out, but Ruko didn't like it when her Pokémon were KO'd – it made her feel guilty.

In each hand she held one of her other Pokémon: Sableye in her left; Dug's mystery Pokémon in her right. Knowing Dug, it was likely a psychic-type (other than Gardevoir, of course – she was clutching Dug's arm out of worry), which was rather disadvantageous against Liepard (which Dug had informed her was in fact dark-type), and may prove to be more effective later.

"Go, Sableye!" she shouted. Sableye burst from her Pokéball bearing her trademark Sharpedo smile, gems glittering in the sunlight. "You know how we roll, go for it!" she said to Sableye, who'd already sprung into action. Sableye's gem-like eyes started glowing, catching and securing Liepard's attention. Bronius' eyes widened as he realised what was happening.

"Liepard, don't! You'll get confused!" he shouted at his Pokémon, but it was too late. Hearing its master shout, Liepard looked around as though there were four of Bronius all fighting for its attention. Sableye's eyes dimmed again, the Confuse Ray working perfectly. Next, she slipped, silent as shadows, towards Liepard, who was still looking around, getting more confused by the minute. As she moved forwards, she used Double Team to appear to split into two, then four, then finally eight identical Sableye. Each mirrored the original's actions exactly, down to that terrifying grin filled with teeth like broken shards of glass. While Liepard was trying to figure out what was going on (if you could see from Liepard's point of view, you'd think Liepard was on a drug trip), the Sableye started circling Liepard, in a significantly better version of what Liepard did to Sawk – all the copies of Sableye were identical, and Sawk wasn't confused. The Sableye slowly accelerated, eventually moving at such a speed that they were little more than a blur. Without warning one leapt at Liepard, catching it with a Low Sweep. Liepard looked panic-stricken as it tried to get back up. The Sableye were indistinguishable from each other, a round blur. The real one kept striking again and again, sweeping at Liepard's legs as it tried to get back up or occasionally catching it with a False Swipe. There was no rhythm to the attacks. Before long the copies dissipated, leaving the original Sableye looking down at the Liepard. It staggered, trying to get up and hit the ghost-type, but collapsed back to the ground for the last time. The last thing it saw before succumbing to unconsciousness was a grin full of broken-glass teeth.

Bronius sighed and withdrew Liepard to its Dusk Ball. He stowed the ball and pulled out his final Pokémon in the same movement. When the flash of light dispersed, there stood what looked like an overfilled rubbish bag (which had burst and its contents grown). It had two "arms" and a few brightly coloured spots, but little else to differentiate it from your common or alleyway Wingull-ravaged rubbish bag. It smelled horrible, like rubbish that had been left to rot or stagnate for at least a few years. Even Ruko was forced to step back out of disgust. Bronius chuckled, taking the gesture to mean confusion.

"I take it you've never heard of Garbodor? Well then, this should be fun."

While Bronius was talking, Garbodor started exuding a sickly-green gas which spread at an alarming rate. Sableye, who was listening to Bronius and trying to figure out what to do, was engulfed and lost amongst the gas. Within seconds she could be heard choking, the poisonous gas and Garbodor's horrendous stench filling what passed for her lungs. The gas started to disperse, but Sableye wasn't in any position to react as a thick blast of filth and who knew what else shot from Garbodor's right "arm" caught Sableye hard in the chest, causing her to collapse to her hands and knees. She was still trying to clear the poison from her lungs when Garbodor strode up to the stricken ghost. Bronius was almost laughing as Garbodor wrapped its left "arm" around Sableye's neck, dragging her close. She was still choking, but started flailing about trying to break free of the putrid Pokémon's embrace. This proved to be useless, as Garbodor pulled her closer and exhaled a purple gas in its captive's face. After some writhing, Sableye eventually fell still, clearly KO'd. Ruko withdrew Sableye, apologising as she did so.

This was it: she was down her last Pokémon, which Dug had lent her. Dug was smiling, at this moment the only person who knew what was about to unfold. "Here we go!" she shouted as she threw the Quick Ball in the air, not knowing exactly what to expect. Before her stood what looked like a 5' girl in a layered black dress with a white bow on each layer and another on the back of her head. What was equivalent to hair were eight discs protruding from her head, four on each side. She also wore an expression that could have been either boredom or pissed-off. The very sight of this new Pokémon clearly worried Bronius and Garbodor greatly.

Dug's Pokémon was a Gothitelle: a very powerful psychic-type and one half of the strongest in-party relationship in Dug's usual team. The other half, Gardevoir, was no longer clutching Dug's arm so much. She was also grinning evilly, showing a pair of fangs: she knew _exactly_ what Gothitelle was capable of.

Ruko tried to look like she had some sort of control, even though until now she'd only seen Gothitelle a handful of times, and never in battle, so didn't know what Dug and Gardevoir did. After a moment, Gothitelle closed her eyes and started moving her arms in front of her in a rhythmic pattern. Garbodor shifted, clearly trying to figure out what was happening and how to react against it. As a precaution, it started exuding that green gas. As the gas started spreading, what looked like a miniature purple-pink sun appeared and started growing in front of Gothitelle. Her movements grew faster, causing the sun to grow further. The gas was close to Gothitelle by now, and Garbodor appeared to be grinning at what was to come. Suddenly, Gothitelle's eyes snapped open, her irises glowing a strong psychic pink. The sun imploded and then exploded into a psychic shockwave that was directed straight at Garbodor. Its smile faded quickly as it struck hard by the shockwave before it could react further, knocked backwards by the force of it. There was a faint pink hue to its body, which looked like what little rigidity had been there was threatening to fail. There was a sound akin to leaking gas and suddenly Garbodor exploded, releasing a purple and green smokescreen that obscured it. A different hissing sound could be heard until Bronius withdrew whatever was left of it. The green gas quickly dissipated, but the screen lingered for a while.

As Ruko withdrew Gothitelle, the collected crowd exploded in cheers and applause. She made her way over to Bronius, avoiding the screen and a section of arena floor gouged by Bisharp as she did so. When she reached him, he looked the least bit pleased. She said "You know the rules of a fair fight: I won, so you owe me my winnings." Bronius growled and reluctantly handed over her victory money. She counted it: P4500. She then added "I hope you also remember our conditions: loser goes overboard, so off you go."He sighed, giving her a look that said 'You'll regret this', turned and started running for the edge of the arena. Passengers cleared his way as he jumped the wall and off the boat, but instead of the expected splash of him hitting the water, there was the tell-tale click of another Pokéball activating and he could be seen flying away on a large grey bird Pokémon, laughing wildly as he went. One could almost imagine him screaming 'I shall have my revenge!" like some mad scientist or other.

Ruko swore loudly. She saw some Trainers moving to get Pokémon to shoot him down or bring him back, but Ruko said "leave him, he's not worth it now. Instead," she aimed this at the crowd as a whole. "Collect up and capture any Team Plasma members still on board. We'll hand them over to the authorities in either Sinnoh or Unova." People started to move to follow her orders. She then realised and added "oh, could we get that poor guy who was thrown off the boat back please? Well done." She liked having some degree of command.

**A/N:** And we're done. Next chapter will have post-battle impacts, meeting a new character and maybe the landing in Sinnoh. Dunno yet. Might have to throw in reference points to Doom-Kindred in this next one.

I don't know how this compares to the style of other people for battles, especially in the parent story, Doom-Kindred, but I like how it went. There is some truth in Dug's/my team, as it will follow my current team on Black. So far we've had Porygon, Gardevoir and Gothitelle (love that pair!) and I believe Henry gave me a Swellow in Doom-Kindred. I'll be revealing the rest of the party in time. I will say that one slot is one of two "legendary" Pokémon, I'll let you guess in the reviews (_please_ review, I'd like to know what's good and bad!).

I really enjoyed writing this chapter, even if it turned out at ~2.3K words by itself. My normal chapters with or without A/N only reach around 1000 words, so yeah. It was definitely worth it - I wanna do more!

I'd just like to say I've never taken drugs, nor do i ever intend to, so don't know what Liepard would be seeing against Sableye.

Until next time!


	8. Faith In A Friend

**A/N:** Hey everyone! Hope you had a good Xmas, etc. I meant to write this ages ago, but got writer's block. Then procrastination kicked in. Anyway, it's here now: the battle follow-up, a new character and landing in Unova. Enjoy!

Chapter 8

"Well that wasn't too bad," Dug stated, leaning on a column next to a Pokémon Restore System. Ruko booted up the system, placing her two Pokéballs on glowing platforms. A few seconds later, the system hummed and the familiar seven-note tone played. The platforms dimmed and Ruko retrieved her Pokémon.

"Yeah, well it would feel better if I didn't need to hang off your arm just to get by," she said. Dug chuckled at this.

A new voice spoke out behind Ruko. One she hadn't heard in years. "Either way, you did well to kick that guy's ass the way you did." Ruko turned round and smiled. Before her stood Miku, though it wasn't the Miku that Ruko remembered her: she was wearing a grey tank-top and leather jacket, both cut to expose her midriff; she also had bracers on each hand and loose cargo trousers. Ruko recalled that Miku had once trained to be a Battle Girl, but it looked like she'd moved onto parkour. This hardly surprised Ruko, to be honest. The last things Ruko noticed were a complex geometric tattoo running the length of her right arm, and then she saw Miku's hair. It was once teal and tied into two ponytails that fell to her knees, but now it was a single curtain which went as far as her shoulder-blades and had white streaks dyed into it. She'd kept the fringe though.

Ruko pulled her old friend into a tight hug, enjoying the chance to see one of her best friends again. "How've you been? How's that Riolu of yours doing?" The happiness in her voice was evident. When Miku pulled herself free, she looked at Ruko in confusion, but then realisation.

"It's been that long since we properly spoke, huh? He evolved a year or so ago, and I've started calling him Metsu. And I've been good, yeah. Kept myself busy after finishing Battle Girl training by working for a back-alley courier service. Some of the shit I've seen probably isn't all legal, but I don't ask questions and get it where it needs to go."

"Sounds just like you," Ruko laughed, then stopped. "Unfortunately it's also kept you too busy to write to me."

"Oops," Dug piped. It was well known in Ruko's inner friend circles that after seeing each other for the last time before Miku went off for her training – her parent's choice – they stayed in regular contact through IM. Over time the training became more rigorous and took up more of Miku's time, so she had less time to chat to Ruko, and a lot of the lost time was due to lack of energy from the day's training – apparently it was like how Miku imagined military training to be. The lost momentum caused a switch to emails to work around Miku a little better, but even this slowed down. Within a year, the only contact Ruko got was the automated emails Miku had set up for birthdays, etc. Ruko hadn't given up hope on seeing her friend again, and now here they were.

"Best excuse I can come up with is procrastination. I suppose where I'd fallen out of the loop from the training, I just never picked it back up afterwards," Miku confessed, raising her hands. "Believe me: I meant to get back in contact with too many times, but time and that memory were never in the same place at the same time."

"So, what now? Are you gonna disappear again?" The question was as much personal as it was accusative.

"I've really got to clear up my work for the courier, but when that's done I suppose I could look into getting in touch with you again?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be approaching Canalave port very soon. Please check that you have your belongings and make ready to depart. The staff would wish to thank you for taking this trip with us, and look forward to seeing you again soon."

For Ruko and Dug it would be soon indeed: Dug had to settle some stuff in Sinnoh, and then they'd be back on the ship in a few days' time, headed for Unova.

Ruko felt better about settling the matter with Miku. She needed to return to the courier 'base of operations' to finish a run. After that she'd sort out hr timetable and make sorting time for Ruko a top priority.

Between meeting Miku and now, Ruko had managed to have a quick flick through her paper. It was mostly the usual drivel, so little to catch Ruko's eye. The main article on page 9 was that Devon Corp had released a new version of the PokéNav, but had also gotten a bit of grilling from the press on the condition and actual position in the business of a student employed by the company. Dug glanced at the article and guessed that they were talking about Henry – again. He seemed to be getting more attention directed his way since mysteriously falling into a "stress-induced coma". Dug clearly knew the truth, but wasn't going to let on about it in such a public place.

When the boat finally docked in Canalave, the captured and bound Team Plasma members (nineteen in total, including two Admin-level members) were handed to the police, who had been notified beforehand.

Once Ruko had gotten ashore and finished being thanked and congratulated by police, passengers and staff, Dug informed Ruko that their first and main stop was going to be Dug's house in Jubilife City. "A quick stop at the PokéCentre to get a few more Pokémon first, though, eh?" Ruko thought that this was probably a safe idea.

**A/N:** And that's another chapter wrapped up. Please review and tell others about my story! I've only had one proper review, and that was first chapter! I'd like to know people's opinions!

I admit that this is a little shorter than the others, but hopefully I can make the next one longer to compensate where we visit Dug's house (and hopefully I weaken the "Mary Sue" image that my brother claims is developing). I will be introducing a Vocaloid3 (shock horror!) in the next chapter or two.

With the tone the PRS makes, I'm going with the tone from the Hoenn games, which has two "echo notes". I know in other games it only has one echo, but I stick by the fact that I love Pokémon Sapphire: it was my first Pokémon game and this is my fanfic!

Bonus points for the reference with the later half of Miku's backstory.

Until next time!


End file.
